Is it really faster to pre-finish before assembly or am I wasting my time?

I know a lot of guys who swear by finishing every piece before glue-up. Says it saves them sanding time and prevents those nasty glue spots showing through the stain. But I had a job last fall for a kitchen in Portland where the client wanted a dark walnut stain. I pre-finished all the drawer fronts and face frames. When I assembled, the edges didn't match up perfect and I had to touch up anyway. Took me way longer than if I just did it all at the end. Am I missing something or do other people run into this too?

2 comments

2 Comments

sandra9161h agoTop Commenter

Yeah that walnut job you mentioned is exactly why I stopped bothering with pre-finishing most things. @lane.joel nailed it about the flat panels thing. I did a set of shaker cabinets once where I thought I was being smart by finishing everything separate and then I had to spend two days scraping and re-staining where the glue leaked out of the joints anyway. It's one of those tricks that sounds great on paper but in real life you're just setting yourself up for a headache. I think a lot of guys who swear by it are doing really simple stuff or they've just gotten lucky so far.

lane.joel3h ago

Yeah you pretty much nailed the issue right there. The problem with pre finishing is you're locked into perfect assembly or you're just making more work for yourself later. I've found it only really works for simple flat panels where nothing's getting hidden behind a joint.